Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Parts Unknown
by Raph84
Summary: When Jason and Trini suddenly disappear, Lord Zedd unleashes his might on the remaining Rangers. Where exactly have the other two Rangers gone and what does it mean in the chain of events? Will the red and yellow Rangers be able to come home? Will the rest of the Rangers survive without their friends to help? Find out. This will be a long one.
1. Chapter 1

The Angel Grove Youth Center was abuzz with the youth from all over the city. The Youth Center was a gym/juice bar where all the kids in the community could come and exercise or enjoy the fine services of Ernie, the owner of the place. The majority of the space in the building was occupied by the gym portion which had padded floors in the center and tan walls lined with exercise machines sitting on grey tile floor. There were balance beams and even a pommel horse for aspiring gymnists. There were any number of martial arts classes and martial artists readily available and even now, in one of the empty corners of the gym, a class was underway. The juice bar portion was on a raised floor in the smaller portion of the building`s space seperated by a copper handrail designed to look like waves swirving up and down bolted to three copper posts going from floor to ceiling. This is where the actual bar where Ernie served the kids stood against the back wall. It was a round bar with stools along its front. To one side of the bar was the entrance to the locker rooms, a big neon blue sign that read "juice bar" on the wall.

The juice bar was the local hang-out for most kids and that included the teenage group who, when it was needed, could become the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. At the moment though, they were just themselves, or at least one of them. Billy Cranston was sitting at the table closest to the gym portion of the room at a table set against one of the copper posts with his nose buried deep in a book, a backpack hanging from the chair he was leaning back in. He was surrounded by more books still, covering the majority of the table`s top. The only clear space around him was the spot where his drink sat, a blend of blueberries and beets to help bloodflow to his brain, or so he'd read. Billy was a well-built teen with wavy brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a blue t-shirt that accented his muscular arms well and a pair of blue jean shorts and tennis shoes with blue stripes. He was mumbling the words of his book as he read when suddenly someone sat down beside him, shocking him out of his concentration.

"Billy, one of these days you're going to turn into a textbook." It was Trini Kwan, one of Billy`s best friends if not his best. She was a gorgeous girl of Vietnamese origins with beautiful dark eyes and black hair which she had pulled into short braids that rested on her shoulders, little yellow bows tied at the ends. She wore a black shirt cut off to show her stomach and a yellow vest over that. She also wore high waisted blue jean shorts and yellow socks with white shoes.

"Trini, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Billy was smiling though.

"You've been at this all day, Billy. It's Saturday, don't you think you should at least enjoy some of your day?" Trini`s tone was much like that of a mother giving a child advice. A warm, kind tone she often took with her friends.

Billy sighed. "You're right, what time is it?" He quickly glanced around to the clock hanging over the bar and saw it was nearly four-thirty. His eyes shot wide a moment before a wide grin came over his features and he looked down at his hands in embarassment. "I really have been at it all day. Well, how about a movie or something? That should help get my mind off my studies."

"Oh!" Trini exclaimed, "I would love to Billy, but I promised Jason I would help him practice some techniques to help him build some speed." She was genuinely sorry she couldn't go, her voice honest and direct. "Kimberly and Zack should be back from helping clean up the park any time, maybe they could go with you?"

"That sounds good," Billy said, putting away some of his books into the backpack. "Jason`s skill in battle is already impressive, what will you two be working on?"

"He's interested in some of the mantis style Kung Fu I've been learning. He just feels a little sluggish what with all the strength training he does so he wants to try a different approach for a bit, you're more than welcome to stick around and try it for yourself."

"No, thanks. I'm still sore from yesterdays training session with Zack. Hip Hop Kido really takes a toll on the legs." They both laughed as Billy stood and stretched. "I think I'll walk to the park and just meet the guys there, I could do with a good stretch." He slung the backpack over one shoulder and reached down and hugged Trini briefly.

"Bye Billy." Trini said, as he let go of her and made his way out the double doors and disappeared out of sight. Trini made her way to the locker room to change. Jason would be finishing up with his class any minute and Trini wanted to be ready so he wouldn't have to wait for her. She slipped out of her regular clothes and put on the black gi she preffered when doing martial arts and took her hair out of the braids and ran a brush through her hair to set it straight. By the time she was finished and had come out of the locker room Jason was sitting at the bar drinking a tall glass of water in one quick gulp. He had short dark hair and wore a red headband. He wore a red sleeveless shirt and red gi slacks and no shoes. When he saw Trini he lowered his glass and gasped for air.

"These kids are really becoming a challenge." He said with a big toothy smile.

"Maybe you're working them too much?" Trini said as she came and sat beside him.

"Maybe." He was laughing as he stood up from his stool and finished the water. "I'm ready whenever you are."

For the next hour Trini taught Jason a few of the kata she had learned, the two of them standing side by side, Jason doing his best to mimic Trini`s smooth, almost beautiful motions, though it was obvious she was the more proficient. These kata were motions that would, for now, be done very slow but in time, once Jason had mastered them, they would increase the pacing until he would finally be forced to move at a faster speed and hopefully his body would adjust. Jason was familiar with this sort of thing already, he had trained in karate his whole life and knew what the purpose of katas were so he remained patient and hopeful that after a few weeks of practicing the katas he would be able to move with better speed and agility, though he already moved quite well for his bulk.

It was nearing six o' clock when they decided to stop for the day. Ernie would be ushering people out soon so that he could close shop and so they quickly made their way to their respective locker rooms and changed back into their regular clothes. Trini was back in her original outfit. Jason had switched to a red, plaid hooded sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off and a pair of red khaki shorts and thick boots. He was carrying his gym bag with him as they said their goodbyes to Ernie and left.

"Care to walk me home?" Trini asked Jason, who was standing at the door adjusting the strap on his communicator.

"Sure, wonder where the guys are?" He asked, coming along Trini`s side as they walked down the sidewalk heading towards the park which they could cut through and make for Trini`s house. It was a beautiful Summer day. It had been unusually cool lately, staying in the eighties which felt perfect compared to the heat they were used to.

"Billy was going to see if Kimberly and Zack wanted to go to a movie, they'll probably be back in a little while." Trini said, walking with her head up, watching clouds pass over the blue sky overhead. Jason nodded and squinted up to look at the clouds as well. There was a very large one, white and fluffy slowly crossing over the Sun, slowly blocking its light.

"That's a big one," Jason said as they stepped off the sidewalk and into the grass where the park began. They were walking a thin trail near a small pond just outside a copse of trees. They would make through the trees and hit the path at the top of the hill that would lead through the park and towards Trini`s house.

"Yeah," Trini said absently. "Is it me, or does it look like it's stopped?"

Jason looked and sure enough it had. It had managed to block the sun, giving them shade, but unlike the other small whiffs of cloud around it, it was completely still. He stopped which made Trini who was now slightly behind him come to a halt as well. She stood with one hand over her eyes looking at the odd cloud.

"Zedd?" Jason asked in a serious tone. Trini dropped her gaze to look him in the eye.

"You don't think-" She was cut off when there was a terrible thunderclap and a bright light shot down from the center of the cloud and surrounded them and in a flash of lightning, they vanished.

"-Zedd would want to block the Sun for some reason." Trini finished. Suddenly she realized that she and Jason were no longer in Angel Grove. The two of them were looking at their surroundings. It was a strange place with trees tall as they could see climbing into the sky overhead which was a strange shade of orange. They stood on a stone path cutting through the trees. What was most odd about this place was the ground. It wasn't grass or earth but the white fluff of cloud as if the path, the trees and even they themselves were merely placed atop a cloud. Jason took his bag and wanting to test the ground tossed it down onto the cloud-earth and sure enough it landed with a "fwump" and stayed. He then tested his weight on the fluff with one foot and slowly put his other leg onto the cloud with all his weight now baring down. He then jumped a little and still it held.

"Where the heck are we?" Jason then asked, stepping back onto the path.

"I have no idea." Trini answered in a distant tone. "Try your communicator, maybe Alpha or Zordon will know something."

"Come in Zordon." Jason spoke into the little round microphone piece on his wrist, pressing the button to activate it. Nothing, not even the beep to let them know they had activated the circuit to communicate through the Morphing Grid and into the Command Center. Trini was watching him and when nothing happened he shrugged, a look of concern wearing heavy on his face.

"Alpha?" Trini was speaking into her own communicator. "Alpha can you hear me?" Still nothing. She shook her head to Jason who had been watching and hoping.

"Okay, we've got to figure out what to do. It's obvious we can't expect help."

"It looks like these trees end on down the path, I can see light." Trini had walked a bit further down the path to where it curved around and was peeking around one of the huge trees that blocked their view. "Maybe if we make our way out of here we can find help?"

"It beats standing here." Jason was looking the opposite direction. All he saw were more trees. The path stayed straight in this direction and as far as he could see there was no end to the wall of trees. He turned and turned to his friend and picking up his gym bag caught up as she rounded the bend. They hadn't gone far when they could hear a strange rumbling. The "ground" beneath them shuddered a moment then stopped. Suddenly from out of the trees came several forms, all of them of similar appearance. They were tall and thick with long slender arms that ended in large round hands more like spiked balls than hands. Their heads were covered in strange bulbous growths and their skin was a sickly brown. They were naked save for lengths of black cloth at their waists covering their groins. There were five of them and at the sight of the two rangers they began to make a low growling noise, all in unison. Slowly they began surrounding the two, encircling them, who by now had taken up their stances, ready in case of an attack. The creatures came further in and as one attacked, slinging their bulbous hands high over their heads and bringing them down like spiked clubs.

Trini stepped aside, one of the hands coming far too close for comfort and grabbing the arm by the elbow to lock it and keep it from moving, drove the butt of her hand full force into the creature`s chin which forced it back and down onto the ground as another rushed her, trying to grab her in it`s gangly arms. Jason, upon seeing the creatures intentions, decided to act first and threw his bag aside just as the nearest creature raised it`s arm. He kicked out with medium force into the beast`s stomach. It fell to one knee and Jason spun slinging his left foot around and into the creature`s face, splaying it out on the path. Another rushed him but he managed to seize it`s falling arm and using his strength lifted the creature up and over dropping it hard onto the stone of the path. Trini, having twisted out of her attacker`s grasp, kicked out at one of the things ankle forcing it to step back which gave her an opening and so she spun and drove her elbow hard into the beast`s stomach, it`s horrid breath blowing into her face as the wind was knocked out of it, dropping it to the ground. There was only one left now and seeing it`s fellows out of commission and the two rangers facing it, ready for the attack, it turned and ran, yelping into the woods.

After it had gone the two of them stood at the ready, expecting more, back to back, but nothing stirred save for a couple of the things on the ground. Jason took Trini by the hand and led her at a running pace. "Let's get out of here." They ran at full speed along the winding path that continued on and on. Ever ahead they could see the light of day at the end of the treeline coming closer and closer until at last, breathless, they came to a halt where the trees thinned and halted. Before them was a wide open expanse. There was hardly anything there except for rocks jutting out of hills of the cloud-earth.

"Let's take cover over there behind some of those rocks and get some rest." Jason said, breathing heavy. Trini nodded, bent over trying to catch her own breath and so the two of them went, their pace a jog now, and sat beneath a jutting rock in the side of a hill a good sixty yards from the treeline. They sat a moment, silent except for their still heavy breathing, trying to catch their wind and after a few minutes they were both able to speak normally. Though it seemed futile Jason was again trying the communicator. Trini, anxious to get moving and find their way out of this place, had stood and was looking out at the landscape. There was nothing of note save that there were lots of cloud-earth hills and rock that was actual rock, like the trees had been actual trees. She could also make out that the path did continue, now wide enough for a car to travel, and off in the distance, far far off, she could see some sort of structure.

"Jason, you should see this." He stopped his attempt at calling the others and stood and came to her side. She pointed. "There, do you see it?"

"What is it?" He asked.

"I don't know. Considering what just happened, I don't think we should get too curious just yet."

"I wish there was some way to call the others. We need to get in touch with Zordon."

"I may know a way!" Realization suddenly hit Trini and spread across her features. "I've seen Billy tool around with these things enough, I may be able to boost the signal. Maybe."

"We have to try something, it's getting dark and I don't think we want to be out here."

"All we can do is try." With that Trini went back to the rock and took a seat, Jason following, and set to work.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lord Zedd sat on his throne, resting his head against the knuckles of his right hand, the other arm resting on the arm of the great seat. His staff, a huge rod of metal with a bladed Z at its head, lay across his lap. He was a humanoid creature with skin of a deep crimson that showed each and every tendon of his muscular body. Serving as a type of exoskeleton, he had highly polished metal running along his arms and legs with a single piece of the metal at his chest resembling a ribcage. His face was more of the metal, his mouth a grinning grate of steel, forming a sort of crown-skull that left his brain, covered in more of the crimson flesh, open where the rim of the crown-skull tapered into a blade at the center of his forehead into a pointed Z. His eyes were a single v-shaped slit of dark red. His finger-tips were of the shiny metal tapering to clawed points. He was a terror to behold, seated in a throne almost as terrible. Its back in the shape of a leaf with cryptic symbols carved into the dark stone. At his hands, in curving steel, were strange insect skulls with green-jeweled eyes. It sat in the middle of a round platform with pillars evenly spaced in each corner.

The throne room itself was just as terrible. The walls were of dark stone with strange formations like the ribs of some alien and more cryptic symbols. There was a fog ever present in the room hiding the floor beneath the terrible chair. Suddenly the throne rotated in its circle and faced him towards the wide balcony of his dark tower, the planet Earth rotating below him for this tower of evil was seated on the moon itself.

As he sat a tall figure entered from the farthest of two square, wide, open doorways that led to the rest of the tower. He was another humanoid creature, monstrous of form. His entire body was encased in golden armor, his face, the only bit of flesh in the open, was blue like the flesh of a blueberry. He had eyes red as blood and his nose was a maw, like a lion`s, with fangs gleaming when he grinned. A mane of raven black hair hang out from beneath his helm, a six-pointed crown of gold, and draped around his shoulders ending in white claws. On his back were huge wings, feathers as black a raven`s. At his left hip, in a loop on his armor, hang a sword of gold, whose guard curved like batwings, a huge red gem in its center, attaching to the long grip. He was Goldar, a fierce warrior and personal guard to the monster he served.

He came up beside Zedd and stood. The chamber was silent as Zedd looked out at the Earth, a rage building within him as thoughts of conquest filled his mind. He was using on of the magical abilities he was capable of to see the comings and goings of the people on Earth. It was as he stared, eyeing those who had thwarted his every move that he suddenly stood, twirling his staff and using it for leverage as he walked forward and out onto the balcony, his expressionless face glowing with a terrible miasma of red. Goldar, suprised by his master`s sudden movements, placed a hand humbly on his chest and bent slightly forward in a regal bow.

"What is it, my lord?" He asked in a lion`s roar of a voice.

"Goldar," Zedd answered, his own voice a harsh growl despite the pleasure he had just experienced, "two of my most hated enemies have just vanished into thin air." He turned to the tall warrior who again bowed as he met his master`s gaze. "Some magic other than mine has taken them away. That leaves only four of those miserable brats. Even if it's only a short time, we must act while they are devided. I do not know where they have gone but I will not look a gift horse in the mouth." He was tapping the claws of his fingers against the metal ribcage on his chest, deep in thought.

"My lord?" Goldar asked, confusion crossing his features.

"Take a troop of putties," Lord Zedd ordered, waving his staff and pointing at his guard, "and bring me an item to transform into a monster to serve my purposes. Bring me something fearsome and terrible, something to be afraid of. We'll destroy those Rangers yet, Goldar."

Goldar said nothing, he merely nodded and vanished quickly into one of the open doorways, Zedd turning and facing the Earth once more. "We'll destroy them yet."

"That movie...was seriously bad." Kimberly Hart was saying. She was a short girl with a very athletic build, with the thick legs of a trained gymnast. Her hair was brown and was pulled back into a short pony tail held by a pink ribbon that bobbed up and down as she walked. She wore a pink and white shirt with spaghetti straps and very short blue jean shorts. Her shoes were hot pink converse and she wore white socks. She was walking between Billy and Zack Taylor, another of their friends, down the sidewalk from away from the theater.

"Yeah, who do ya think comes up with this stuff?" Asked Zack, rhetorically. Zack was a stocky African-American with crew-cut hair and dark skin. He wore a black button-up shirt with white threading and a pair of black jeans. His shoes were red and black. He also had a stud pierced into his left ear and wore a gold chain around his neck with a cross hanging from it.

"I thought it had a good story, it was just executed poorly." Billy told them both. He was walking with his thumbs tucked into the straps of his backpack.

"Um, sure Billy." Kimberly said with a goofy grin. "All I got from the whole movie was that in the future, people dress really ugly." The two boys exchanged a glance and laughed. "What?" Kimberly asked defensively.

"Nothin' Kim," Zack answered, covering his amusement by waving his left hand. "You just made a good point, that's all."

"So Kim, when does Tommy get back from the tournament?" Billy asked, dodging an oncoming pedestrian riding a skateboard with a huge radio held on his shoulder, blaring music.

"Tomorrow," She answered quickly, excitement in her voice. "Can you believe he made it all the way to finals? He is sooo good."

"No doubt," Zack said, the group coming to a stop to wait for the crosswalk light to signal them. There was a lot of traffic here in downtown Angel Grove but even worse on a Saturday afternoon. There were wide buildings surrounding them, a fountain nearby tinkling its water song. Cars continued to pass, one after the other on the one way street they had come down, ready to cross. "Too bad he lost at the end."

"Yeah," Kimberly said, a sadness in the word. "You know," she lowered her voice, "between losing the tournament and all the trouble with his powers, he's really in a bad place. I'd really like to do something for him to y'know, make him feel better."

"Hey!" Zack exclaimed, an idea hitting him like a bolt. "Why don't we throw him a welcome home party? Ernie loves that stuff, you know he wouldn't mind letting us use the bar."

"Great idea, Zack!" Billy said, the light changing as traffic finally halted to the red light overhead. "It has been a couple of weeks, I'm sure it'd make him feel better."

"Okay," Kimberly said, taking to the idea. "We'll throw him a party." The three of them had just started downhill, passing by a parking garage, when each of their communicators rang a little melody, letting them know that someone was trying to reach them. They all exchanged glances, the cheer of their conversation suddenly vanishing. They hurried off to the corner of the big parking structure and dodged into the alleyway to its side, out of sight.

Billy clicked the button on his communicator. "We read you."

"Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyai!" The high-pitched voice on the other end squeeled with panic.

"Alpha, calm down." Zack said, all three of them with their faces near their wrists, listening.

"Oooooh," Alpha said, "Rangers, you have to come to the Command Center, quickly! It's urgent!"

"On our way," Kimberly said. The three of them took a quick glance around and saw that there were still quite a lot of people around and so they went deeper into the alley, further out of sight. Once the coast was clear they tapped the button on their communicators and were surrounded by the energies of the morphing grid, each taking on their respective colors, and pulled up into the sky at blinding speed and in an instant landed in the center of the Command Center. In a wide circle there were computer banks with hundreds of buttons, dials, lights, knobs and levers, all connected to the morphing grid and powered, the screens of monitors flashing information. There were lights running all along the tops of the panels along the short circular wall they were built into. Spread evenly across the longest of the panels were three diamond-shaped lights that for now were dim but in a state of emergency would spin and sound a deep siren. Sitting in the four corners of the room were four tall collumns with lights going from bottom to top in rings, ever flashing. At the center of all of this stood a great pillar of light and within it was a floating face, a light blue in color, with wise eyes and a warm expression. He was Zordon, the wizard who had given the Rangers their powers and had recruited them to fight the likes of Lord Zedd and before him, Rita Repulsa.

Behind where the three teenagers had landed there sat a large, perfectly round pearl sitting atop a short blue column. Before it, shaking and dancing nervously in place, was Alpha-5, the robot assitant to Zordon and keeper of the Command Center. He was a short machine with a large saucer-shaped head with square, red lights running horizontally across the length of his head, over what would be his eyes. His body was small and covered in a black plastique that resembled spandex in the light. His body was protected by red, black and gold armor, the chestpiece bearing a thick lightning bolt made of tiny lights, the emblem of the Rangers, except for his biceps and thighs which were the black plastique. He turned at the sound of the discharge of the morphing grid as the three appeared in the room.

"Aiyaiyaiyaiyai! Rangers!" Alpha came to them, scooting his combersome feet along.

"Alpha, spit it out." Zack said, trying to be understanding but a bit of frustration crossing his features in the face of the robots panic.

"Rangers," Zordon suddenly spoke, his voice echoing as if he were from far off but remained calm and flat, though there was a saddness in it and the floating face seemed aged. "Jason and Trini have suddenly vanished from Angel Grove. Alpha, please play the recording."

A sudden calm came over the robot though he continued to nervously dance as he walked to the large panel in front of Zordon and twisting a dial and pressing a button a recording begun to play from the speakers within the panels. There was static and then the soft voice of Trini, broken by the static but clear when the words managed to break through. "Tried...signal...Jason. Don't...we are...We're okay for now...help...please...us...We'll try to find a way home...If...can hear...please say something." The recording then stopped.

"Alpha," Billy said, "have you tried triangulating the signal? Perhaps we can find where it came from."

"That's just it, Billy." Alpha said. "We traced the signal and it's here on Earth, but we couldn't find the source. Zordon looked everywhere." His high-pitched voice was edging towards panic again, Billy coming to him and putting a comforting hand on his friend`s shoulder.

"Then we'll just have to keep searching." Billy said, looking at the panel as if the answer was there. He stretched his hands out and over the buttons and dials trying to figure out a way to increase the strength of their signals to maybe patch through to Trini`s communicator when suddenly the diamond lights began to flash red, bellowing their loud siren.

"Oh no," Kimberly uttered, she had already been worried but now she was rocking side-to-side, picking at one fingernail with the same digit from the opposite hand. Zack was there, his arm around her.

"It'll be okay, Kim." Zack said.

"Look into the Viewing Globe." Zordon commanded, the teens and the robot obeying. As they looked the image of Goldar appeared among the cloudy flesh of the pearl. He was in the midst of the city, traffic halting as he stood in the middle of an intersection with several of the grey and silver creatures called 'Putty,' destroying anything within reach. People were running everywhere, abandoning their cars to escape the chaos. "Rangers, you must stop Goldar, now. I advise you to morph and put a stop to Goldar`s attack as fast as possible, Alpha will continue to try and reach Jason and Trini. Good luck."

The teens all nodded up to Zordon and, Zack in front, reached back drawing the morphers which held their power coins, the device which would empower them, Zack shouting, "It's morphin' time!"

Holding their morphers in front of them and crying the name of the dinosaurs powering their respective coins in turn, Kimberly then Zack followed by Billy shouted, "Mastadon!" "Pterodactyl!" "Triceratops!"

In a flash of multi-hued light they were standing atop one of the halted cars, surprising Goldar and the ugly Putty Soldiers. The putties were a sickly grey color with a metal breastplate with a huge Z etched in a circular piece in each one`s center. They wore white leggings and a white tunic beneath the breastplate. Goldar stepped forward and pointed his sword at the Rangers.

"You don't have a chance, I'll destroy you, Power Rangers!" He roared with a fury, that terrible voice sending chills up their spines.

"You can try!" Kimberly shouted, her uniform a light shade of pink with white diamond shapes going across the chest, the tunic long enough to tuck into her white belt and form a skirt around her hips and thighs over spandex pants. She wore an ornate helmut of white with a line of pink forming the shape of a pterodactyl`s head in the center of the round lense of her visor encircling the helmut like a ribbon. Her gloves were white with pink diamond shapes circling them, her boots the same. Billy and Zack stood beside her, their uniforms similar save that their tunic tucked into their pants, the white belt looping at their waists. Billy`s suit was blue and his helmut in the shape of a triceratopshead, horns at the top, its nose-horn in the center of his visor with beady black eyes. The diamonds on his suit white and blue on his gloves. Zack`s suit was black where Billy`s was blud and his helmut was that of a mastadon, the tusks rimming his visor and the trunk in the center of the black eyepiece.

"Use your weapons, guys, we can't afford to play around!" Billy shouted, his head bobbing up and down with his words. The others nodded and shouted, "Right!" A flash of light filled their hands and suddenly Kimberly held a white bow, an arrow of light forming as she pulled back into a drawn position. Zack suddenly held a large black and yellow axe that doubled as a cannon with a wide handle. Billy now twirled a trident, blades one either end, blue in color. Without another word they rushed the villains before them, Zack taking to Goldar right off the bat.

When the uniforms they wore enveloped them their reactions, focus, strength and speed were all far beyond the normal. The Morphing Grid also assisted in the movements of the wearer if they were unlearned in the art of fighting or to add to the abilities the wearer already had at their disposal. Billy, was only a beginner in the martial arts when he and his friends first used this gift and so when fighting it had been the Grid which did ninety-five percent of the work, forcing his body to move and act, now it was closer to fourty-five percent, an impressive achievement considering Jason, the more skilled of the group, used almost ten percent of that same control.

"I'll keep Goldar busy, you two wipe out the putties!" Zack shouted. Another "right!" and the melee ensued. Billy was soon in the midst of four of the Putty. He was swinging his weapon in great circles, holding them at bay until at last he drove in using the blades mostly to force the limbs of his attackers out of the way. The weakness of these putty was the large Z which gave them greater strength than their predecessors but also was their greatest weakness as after several hits it would overload from the trauma with the power infused there by Zedd which would reduce the putty to the material they were birthed from with explosive energy. Even now Billy repeatedly kicked one of them in that Z, holding the creature`s arm in his left hand while thrusting his lance forward to keep the others at bay. With incredible force he drove his foot once more into the Z knocking the putty back, the discharge electricuting the creature forcing it to explode.

Kimberly, forced into melee after felling the first of her attackers with an arrow, had switched to using her bow as a club. She parried a punch from one creature and seized the chance as it`s arms spread wide from her blow, slamming her elbow hard into the Z which sent it reeling and exploding. There were still two more on her. Having gained a bit of distance between her and the two remaining Putty she reached as if drawing the string back on her bow and a beam of light shot into her hand forming a sharp pointed arrow that instantly let fly and hit the closest Putty square in the weak Z plate, finishing it quickly as the other came running, trying to close on her before she could form another arrow.

Zack had his hands full with Goldar who was far superior in combat to any of the Putty and probably Zack as well, even with the aid of the Morphing Grid. Goldar swang right, forcing the Power Axe aside and quickly turned his blade, swiping it across Zack`s chest, a discharge of energy from the Morphing Grid causing a small explosion in the spot he'd been hit sending the Black Ranger spinning. He kept his footing and returned to the fight, this time going offensive and managing to catch the golden beast`s sword in the hook of his axe but the more experienced monster was too quick and threw a punch nailing Zack right in the visor of his helmut knocking him back but giving him an oppurtunity as he spun away to crouch and use the momentum to swipe Goldar`s legs out from under him, laying the monster flat on his back.

Billy, seeing Zack struggling, decided that he needed to speed things up and with a tug at its center his lance split in two, become two tri-bladed escrima sticks. There were still three to deal with but he calculated quickly and was moving through them at light speed parrying the futile punches and kicks of the strange creatures, his weapons fluttering at an incredible pace, stabbing into the Z plates destroying all three in less than a minute, the Putty exploding where they lay around him in the middle of the street.

Kimberly saw Zack as well and with her attacker taking hold of her bow, getting close to her face, she drove her knee up, trying to hit the Z but missed. The creature was strong, that was one thing to be said for the slow, awkward servants of Zedd. She fell suddenly to the ground and using her powerful legs forced the Putty over her head, landing hard on it`s back. She twisted up onto her feet, the Putty trying to stand as well. She made use of the oppurtunity and just as it was on one knee, using her bow like a golf club, hammered the weapon into the Z, forcing the Putty backwards where it fell and exploded from the terrible force.

Having defeated Goldar`s minions the others decided to join Zack as he attempted to defeat the golden warrior. Goldar had managed to parry away the falling axe as he lay on the ground, kicking Zack in the hip and buying himself enough time to stand. Billy touched his weapons` ends together and once more formed the trident, Kimberly drawing another light arrow as Zack was once more knocked aside. Billy went for Goldar`s feet to once more upend him but the monster was onto him and using the end of his sword twisted the trident around and seeing Kimberly launch her missile used the large blade of Billy`s weapon to block the arrow.

"You'll have to do better than that to beat me!" The golden monster growled. Fury was in his terrible features, the maw of his mouth wrinkled as he bared his fangs. Billy yanked his blade free as Zack attempted to land a blow to Goldar, his back facing the black ranger as he mocked Kimberly. Goldar was fast and his instincts battle tested, thus he turned aside, the axe hitting nothing. Kimberly, fast on the draw, formed and losed another arrow, hitting Goldar in the left thigh. It exploded in a flash of light, Goldar roaring in anger and pain as the leg gave. Billy seized his chance and using the trident like a pole-vault, leapt and kicked the monster in the blue of his face sending Goldar down to one knee. Zack, following through, threw a punch that landed across Goldar`s jaw, Zack continuing his motion by spinning and driving the side of the opposite foot against the crowned helm atop Goldar`s head, sending the monster rolling sideways to the ground. He had had enough and rising quickly to one knee, swung his sword sideways in a wide arch and vanished in a flash, leaving the Rangers behind.

"Let's get outta here," Zack said, people were staring at them, an eerie silence coming over the streets. The other Rangers nodded and all three were pulled up again, surrounded by the energies of the Grid, leaving the people on the street dumbfounded. They were soon back at the Command Center, removing their helmuts and setting them atop one of the panels.

"Did you find anything?" Billy asked Alpha who was busy at one of the panels, a long stream of paper pouring out of a slot to one side.

"Maybe, the computer is just now calculating." Alpha answered, looking up only long enough to finish his sentence. "If this works, the computer may be able to tell me what adjustments to make to our satelite outside to boost a signal and get through to Trini. Oooooh, I hope this works."

"How much longer?" Zack asked, he and Kimberly standing to one side, trying to stay out of the way.

"I'm not sure, Zack." Alpha said, a bit of the frustration still in his voice. "Hopefully soon, aiyaiyai."

"Rangers," Zordon called, everyone looking up to the floating face. "We still have the coordinates where Jason and Trini were last seen. While Alpha attempts to boost our signal, go and see if there is anything to suggest where they may have disappeared to."

"Okay, Zordon." Kimberly said, her voice distant.

Billy was at another one of the panels, quickly typing and watching one of the monitors."According to these coordinates, they were just inside Angel Grove Park." He turned to face his friends. "Right by the lake. That's where we should start." The others nodded and came to his side, the three of them touching the morpher at the front of their belts in unison, disappeared in a flash of blue, pink and black.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was somehow raining and pitch black. Trini and Jason sat huddled beneath the outcropping of rock they had been using for shelter. Trini sat with her legs pulled close to her chest, resting her head on her arms crossed over her knees. Jason sat with his arms crossed across his chest, his legs stretched out in front of him and crossed over one another. The rain was absolutely pouring as they sat in silence. The water had been falling in torrents for almost an hour, splattering onto the puffy cloud-earth which had shifted to a dark grey instead of the white it had been earlier.

Both teenagers were in a somber mood. Trini had attempted to boost the signal of her communicator to try and somehow reach the others and call for help but if they had recieved the signal, there had been no indication. Thinking of the failure of her attempt, a sigh escaped Trini as she continued to watch the rain fall, Jason next to her deep in thought. His face showed his deep thinking but not his emotions. He was actually quite worried but wouldn't allow himself to show it outwards, trying to keep a cool head in front of his friend. The only thing he could think to do was move on towards the structure in the distance, that maybe it would hide some clue as to what was happening and why they were there. If Zedd was the cause, then they were in for a difficult fight. While Trini had worked on the communicator, no small task without any kind of tools, Jason had attempted to morph to no avail. Their options were few.

"Try and get some sleep," Jason suddenly said, staring at the end of his boots. "There's nothing else we can do for now. We'll get some rest and in the morning we'll make for that structure."

"Do you think that's safe, Jason?" Trini asked softly.

"I dunno. We'll scout it out, get a good look from a distance if we can. Maybe there's someone inside that can help."

"You mean if it isn't Lord Zedd?"

Jason simply nodded, "If it isn't Lord Zedd."

"And if it is?" Trini asked, giving Jason a worried glance.

"Then we get out of there." Jason said, his tone stern. "We can't fight Zedd without our powers, we wouldn't stand a chance, but we have to try. It's either that or go back through the forest and see where we end up going the other way." Neither of them were too keen to make that journey. At least if they continued in the direction they had been travelling they knew they would come to the structure but back in the thick forest things could be lurking, unseen.

"Okay," Trini said, standing and stretching. "Wake me up in a couple hours and I'll take watch, you need to rest too."

"Sure thing," Jason said smiling, trying to look upbeat despite the situation. "In the morning we'll try the communicator again and if it doesn't work, we'll get moving."

"Right," Trini said, finding a good spot to lie down at the back against the rockface. A yawn actually escaped her lips as she rolled onto her side. How long had they been sitting there?

Morning came on just as the rain had suddenly come to an end. There was no sun but the sky was alight with the strange orange glow they had seen the day before. As the light reached beneath the rock where the Rangers had taken shelter, Trini slowly began to open her eyes. Her hair was a mess after having to resort to using her arms as a pillow. She blinked, trying to wake herself fully and could see Jason standing out in the open, looking down at his communicator and then up at the sky. Realization suddenly hit her as she noticed the light, Jason hadn't woke her. She sat up and called out, a little annoyed.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Trini cried. Jason was taken by surprise and jumped and turned at the sound of her voice. He came back beneath the rock and bent to one knee so he was eye to eye with the girl in yellow.

"I had planned to but it's only been two hours. " Jason said, his brow drawn in confusion.

"Maybe the communicators` clocks just don't work?" Trini said, checking her own.

"No," Jason answered. "I've been watching the time since the sun came up, or whatever that light is, and my communicator is keeping time."

"Okay, this is really weird." Trini said slowly, just as confused as Jason. "We better get started." She stood, Jason pulling her by one hand, to her feet. He stepped out from beneath the rock and kept watch as Trini began once more, attempting to reach the others, speaking into the communicator on her wrist. She had watched Billy boost the signal enough times that even though she didn't know what each piece inside her communicator was, she knew what to move around and connect. He had warned her once that leaving the connection that way too long would create a surge that would damage the communicator, so once more she'd opened her communicator and switched things around. There was still no response and after a few minutes trying as she paced back and forth she came to Jason`s side, readjusting the circuits as she came. "Nothing." She said with a sigh, running her fingers through her hair to straighten it as best as she could. "I guess we're walking."

"Is it me, or does this place sort of weigh down on you?" Jason suddenly asked as they started forward. It was warm out, the weather feeling much like home. Before them was a wide open expanse of rolling cloud-hills and the occasional rock or tree standing like some island in an ocean of cloud. The stone path they had used to escape the walls of the forest now stretched wider and was now more of a road. There was no sign that it had rained the night before.

"What do you mean?" Trini asked, looking up at the taller Ranger.

"I dunno," Jason said, trying to find the words. " It's like I'm really bummed out, like there's no way out of here. You don't feel it?"

"Yeah, I do, actually." Trini responed, looking down as she walked. "I thought it was just me, we've been through much worse before, why should this place get us down?"

"Exactly," Jason said. "This place is almost beautiful. We need to stay hopeful, keep on our guard."

"Right," Trini said, her spirits lifting a bit, "It'll be okay in the end."

The two Rangers walked for close to three hours with no change in scenery, the structure in the distance growing ever closer in their vision. Always were they cautiously watching for any sort of threat, after the welcome they had recieved the day before, they refused to chance it. They decided to rest when they reached a tall tree growing out from beneath some large rocks in a cloud-hill. There was good shade there from the heat of the orange sky. It was while sitting there that they both realized they were very hungry and very thirsty and had no supplies. Jason drove his fist into the palm of his other hand remembering he had had a couple of protein bars and some water in his bag but left it in the woods. Trini reassured him that it would all be alright and after a bit of rest they were off again.

After a few more hours walking they began to realize that they would not reach the structure in the distance that day. They could now see that the structure was a low, square castle of pure white with blue rooftops. It sat atop a wide cloud-hill surrounded by a thick wall of white. It didn't appear evil from this distance but appearances can be decieving and so they set to looking for a safe place to spend the night, no longer than it was. They decided that walking in the deep dark of the night in this place was too risky. They decided to stay in a small copse of trees that stood some hundred yards off from the road. As the orange light of day begun to fade it once more began to rain, absolutely pouring, the trees keeping the teenagers somewhat dry. They had thought to find shelter elsewhere but the black of night had come quickly and so they were forced to stay huddled together beneath the trees, drops of rain dodging the leaves of the trees and sprinkling the two of them. This did work to their advantage as they used the leaves with standing water on them to drink their fill, quenching their thirst before at last resting. Before long, despite his miscomfort, Jason nodded off, the lack of sleep catching up to him. Trini could see that his head had slumped forward and so she decided to stay awake and keep watch, just in case. Luckily the dark had come and gone with nothing happening.

Jason awoke as the orange light warmed his face through the branches of the trees. He was leaning his back against one of the tall trees, his arms down at his side just as when he had fallen asleep. He opened his eyes to see Trini once more pacing, attempting to use her communicator. When she looked up at him she shook her head. Suddenly his face turned red and he was on his feet, reaching down and picking up a large rock he threw it with all his strength, the rock blowing to pieces as it struck one of the thick trees. He roared aloud with anger, the veins in his arms bulging. Trini stood a few feet away, horrified.

"Jason!" She shouted. "This isn't like you, what are you doing?" Jason turned his angry features on the dark-haired girl and suddenly his face eased and a look of shock and horror crossed his face.

"I-I don't know what just happened." He said. He was wavering on his feet, like he was about to fall. Trini rushed forward to catch him but he held out his hand, wanting to stand on his own for a moment. "I'm so sorry, Trini. I don't know what came over me, I've never been that angry in my whole life." His face was sincere, anguished.

"It's this place." Trini said in her motherly tone. "We're being affected, I know it. I can sense it, Jason. Something's terribly wrong. We have to hurry and get out of here."

"You're right," Jason said. "Come on." He stood up straight and led the way out of the trees, his face bearing a look of fit of rage, the anger he'd felt, had scared even him and had only served as further proof that they needed to leave this place as soon as they could.

Again they marched, still following the road, the landscape changing none, their hunger persisting. As the hours went by they advanced on the structure before them until at last they came to a sharp bend in the road where two great rocks stood at the foot of the hill where the castle stood. The high walls now filled their vision stretching as far as they could see to either side. The walls were white, as they had noticed before, but they could now see that the walls were made from huge blocks of stones stacked atop one another and smoothed, each block being about as tall as Jason, the whole wall being about fifteen feet tall. Between the two rocks the path climbed up the foot of the hill leading to a thick door of wood and iron in the wall`s center.

As they approached from behind the large rocks Jason held out his hand and turned to Trini, speaking in a low voice. "Stay here. I'll go check the gate and if it's safe you can follow. Stay behind these rocks, okay?"

Anger now crossed Trini`s face. "I'm just as capable as you." She said in a not so low voice. "I'm going too!" Jason immediately knew what was happening and held his hands up in surrender as he fought his own growing anger. Trini gave him a cruel glance as she strolled past, leading the way up. It was after taking a few steps that Trini realized herself what had happened and she stopped and turned back, a sad expression crossing her face. "Jason, I-"

"It's okay," Jason interupted, a weak smile crossing his features, "I know you didn't mean it but it's too late, though." He pointed and Trini looked up to see that they were in the open and now stood before the wide gateway. The great door was of thick wooden planks banded together by thick iron. It was around ten feet tall and ten feet wide. There was a thick ring of iron in its center that looked to be the handle used to open it. On either side, at the foot of the gate, sat a pile of rusted of metal.

The two teenagers stood before the gate looking left and right and up and down the wall, checking for anyone or anything as they edged forward. Suddenly the metal scraps at the foot of the gateway lifted from the ground and began to float in mid-air. As the two Rangers watched the scraps began to shape themselves revealing that the great chunks of metal were actually pieces of armour. Each piece was perfectly round with openings at the bottom for someone to fit within, though no one wore the armour now. Suddenly the pieces stopped moving in mid air as if being worn by an invisble wearer, the upper portion floating above the lower, when there was a flash at the right glove of each suit and a lance appeared as the gloves took hold of the weapons, the pieces of armour springing to life and lunging at the unarmed teenagers.

Jason ducked and rolled left, Trini going right, surprise covering both their faces. The two suits slammed into each other as they missed their targets, flying to pieces. For an instant the two Rangers stood side-by-side ready, thinking maybe the fight had already been won when the armour again floated into the air, the lances appearing in hand once more. Again the suits came forward, this time Jason kicking straight out, testing the mettle of whatever they were fighting. As soon as his foot connected the thing fell to pieces, Trini achieving the same result as she brought her left foot up in a circular motion and drove it down into the helm as the lance went wide, the armour falling apart. Within seconds both suits were back up, now moving slower, the round, empty helms somehow staring down the teenagers.

"We can't do this all day!" Jason shouted, scooting his feet as he adjusted to his attacker`s movements. Trini was too busy to respond, the lance now making more sophisticated attacks, thrusting forward, up, forward, down and swinging round, forcing Trini into a defensive stance using her footwork to evade until she was struck by an idea. The lance again was thrust up and she took hold of it, looping her arm around the weapon. She thought to disarm her attacker but the force drawing the lance back was like nothing she'd ever felt. It pulled from her, tossing her to the ground hard, landing on her back, her breath vacating her lungs with an audible "Oof." Jason turned at the sight as he again kicked out, trying not to use his more fragile hands on the iron armour. Just as he did so the lance clipped his ear, cutting him. He too fell, landing next to Trini who was now on one knee trying to get her breath, the armour suits fast approaching.

The teenagers stood at the ready, prepared to continue fighting when there was suddenly a loud bang and a noise like creaking door hinges. Both Rangers and armour suits turned to the gateway that was now slowly easing itself down into a hole that was now visible along the feet of the wooden portal. As it vanished into the opening there was a loud "thump" and a small form suddenly came running from behind where the gate had been. The Rangers could see through the opening that beyond the wall was a wide courtyard shaded by an enourmous tree in its center. What surprised them was that the courtyard was of grass, not cloud-earth.

"Zwait, zwait!" The figure was shouting. The voice was high in pitch with a buzzing quality like a voice filtered through some electrical device. The two suits of armour suddenly stood upright as if at attention. As the figure came out of the shade of the tree and into the light of day a small yelp escaped Trini who had finally managed to regain her breath. The thing was a short creature, around five feet tall, wearing a long purple robe and a white cloak. His body looked to be human, it was hard to tell for the robes, but his naked hands were just like the Rangers, but his head, which was much too big for his body, was that of a fly, his many eyes full of fear. "Zstop!" He was shouting as he approached, his arms waving in the air.

When at last he stood before the Rangers he bowed deeply. "Zmy apologies," he said in that strange voice. "Zmy guardians are perhaps too effective? Zplease, come in, come in."

"Wait," Jason said, still in his stance. "Who are you?"

"Yeah," Trini chimed in, "why should we trust you?"

"ZI cannot answer as to why you should trust me," the creature answered, "but as for who I am, I am Griggan, the one who summoned you here."


End file.
